Never More
by ylvaa
Summary: A meeting in a bar between two old lovers. GinnyRemus, GinnyHarry, oneshot


Disclaimer: The characters do not belong to me, they belong to JK Rowling. The plot, though, is mine.

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Ginny was sitting at the bar when Remus entered. She was alone, sitting hunched over the bar desk, drinking. He hadn't seen her for a long period of time now, and to be honest he had done everything he could to avoid her. He started walking towards her and as he did so she raised her head and their eyes met. She had been drinking a lot, he could tell by the look in her face. He wondered why. When he arrived at the bar he sat down beside her, ordering a drink as he did so. "Hello Ginny," he said.

Ginny frowned and nodded slowly in acknowledgement.

"How's Harry?" Remus asked.

"Harry's working, he's fine," said Ginny a bit fast, and then taking a gulp from her drink.

"Good. That's good."

Ginny sighed. "He wants to have children. But I don't think I can do that."

"You don't want to have children?"

"Oh, I do, so much. I want a whole herd of kids running around, getting filthy so I can clean them, and then put them to bed and telling them stories. I want to be like my Mum was, I've always wanted that."

"Then why not with Harry?"

"You know that, Remus. I don't love him. I can't bring up children in a house like that, with me not loving their father. It would be so wrong." Ginny fell quiet, finishing her drink in one gulp and silently ordering a new one from the bartender.

Remus looked at the young woman. He wished he could wrap his arms around her, and tell her how much he loved her. But he couldn't. He closed his eyes and shook the thoughts away from his head.

"Oh, Remus." Ginny sighed deeply. "Why did you let him have me?"

"Harry loves you more than anything in this world," Remus replied without looking at Ginny. "And as his friend I couldn't deny him his one love."

Ginny laughed a joyless laugh. "But I can never love him the way he deserves to be loved. It's you who own my heart, Remus. And it will always be."

"Don't say that, you can learn to love Harry."

"You didn't even put up a fight," said Ginny, seemingly pretending Remus hadn't spoken.

"I didn't have a chance; it's always supposed to be you and him."

"No, it's not!" Ginny was annoyed now, which was heard quite clearly by the tone of her voice. "You didn't even put up a fight, Remus! You just let him take me…." A tear was building up in the corner of Ginny's eye, which she quickly dried with the back of her hand. "I don't love him," she whispered slowly.

"I'm sorry, Ginny," Remus said somewhat weakly. "But this is the way it has to be, you know that as well as I."

Ginny raised her head to look at Remus. "Don't you love me?" she asked, suppressing the tears that were pressing behind her eyelids.

"Of course I do, I love you so much it hurts."

"Then why did you let him have me?" cried Ginny, a tear succeeding to get away from her eye and sliding down her cheek.

Remus sighed. "Because he loves you so much, and will be able to take care of you in times I never could. I only want you to be able to always count on someone to be there for you. And Harry would never leave you."

There were a few minutes of silence before Ginny spoke again, now with a slightly hoarse voice, "Didn't you ever want to have children, Remus?"

"Yes, I did. The first time I saw Harry I wanted nothing else. James was so proud of him. He and Lily were so happy. I wanted to feel that way too," said Remus, smiling at the memories.

"Why didn't you have any?"

"I was waiting for the right person."

"You never found her?"

"I found her, but it was too late then. You were Harry's."

Ginny felt a stab in her heart at Remus' words. "It doesn't have to be that way," she whispered.

"Yes, it has. Ginny, I will love you till the day I die, and I will always cherish the time we had together. But Harry needs you, you are the only family he has and you have to be with him. He loves you. And I'm sorry for how things turned out."

Remus rose from his seat, swallowing the final contents of his drink as he did so. He took Ginny's hand in his and clasped it before slowly walking to the door and leaving the pub. Ginny just sat there quiet for a while, before she, too, got up and left.


End file.
